© The Sacramento BEE
When Staff Sgt. Troy Torres and his wife, Sgt. Lori Torres, joined the California National Guard more than five years ago, they were stirred by patriotism and persuaded by something more tangible - the prospect of paying down some student loans.
Each was promised $20,000 in loan repayments over six years, an enticement for recruits. Now, the Guard is asking for it back.
Fraud and wrongdoing in the incentive program were exposed in a 2010 Sacramento Bee investigation, and since then the Guard has revisited the program to clean it up. The Guard had approved applications improperly. Now, pending payments have been suspended, and checks garnished. That means many soldiers, including some who served tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, have learned that they weren't qualified for the incentives.
"We have been vilified, like we have done something wrong and must be punished," after having accepted fully approved incentive payments in good faith, Troy Torres, 52, said. "Neither of us have committed a crime nor violated U.S. Army regulations."
He called the situation "a financial nightmare for our family."
Torres, a medic, said he and his wife, who have three children - Alec, 16, Ethan, 13, and Olivia, 11 - struggle to pay food and utility bills. They had to seek help from relatives to pay for a long-awaited educational trip to Washington, D.C., for Ethan, on top of costs for Olivia's music lessons and science camp.
The couple have fallen behind on the mortgage for their Galt home. A slip in their credit rating could jeopardize Torres' security clearance - required for his job.
"Lori is in Afghanistan today, at great personal risk," in part, because soldiers in combat zones earn more money, and they needed to compensate for their garnished wages, Torres said. "We live paycheck to paycheck like everyone else," he said. "When you take $1,500 out of my paycheck, you can't budget that." Torres takes home $2,100 twice a month.
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